England face the monster they created
There’s a saying that goes, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.
In India’s case, that may go like this: if you can’t beat ’em, copy ’em.
And so we are here, in a re-match of the last T20 World Cup’s semifinal between defending champions England and India.
While both teams haven’t had too many changes in personnel from the match England won by 10 wickets 19 months ago, there has been a change in the way one of the teams approach T20 cricket, and that’s India.
One key aspect has been the batting of their captain Rohit Sharma.
Nicknamed the ‘hitman’ with quite a few six-hitting records to his name, his strike rate is much improved with a more aggressive batting intent.
It is now 162.5 in nine matches this year while it was 134.4 in 29 matches in 2022.
England are known for their aggressive batting throughout and especially their openers.
While the defending champions had a combo of current captain Jos Buttler and Alex Hales who chased down a target of 169 without losing a wicket and with four overs to spare against India in the last semi, Hales has been replaced by Phil Salt, who is equally impressive and perhaps more powerful.
That is perhaps illustrated in their career strike rates as well as Salt as a career T20I strike rate of 166.6, which is the 6th highest in T20I cricket, and Hales bats at a strike rate of 138.3.
But back to India, they too have taken this aggressive approach England have succeeded with and replaced KL Rahul, an anchor and a grafter with Shivam Dube, a power-hitter.
Dube was a standout performer in the Indian Premier League (IPL) this season and his six-hitting caught the eye of many, which eventually got him the call-up.
India would open with Rahul and a less aggressive Rohit in the last World Cup, and not really take advantage of the Powerplay overs, but Rohit is changing that this edition despite Virat Kohli having a torrid time with the bat at the other end.
In fact, the two captains, Rohit and Buttler’s stats in the T20 World Cup so far have been identical.
Both are on 191 runs from six innings with a 159.16 strike rate.
India, much like England have a power-packed middle-order with Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya.
England may not have Ben Stokes this time, but Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone are there.
One thing is common, India, who relied on anchors and married them with big hitters have taken the England approach of going with only big hitters.
In bowling, India didn’t have Jasprit Bumrah last time around as he was down with an injury, and he has been a massive addition to their side, while England have also been bolstered with the return of their ace pacer, Jofra Archer.
One area where India did copy England in their bowling as well is their use of leg-spin – enter Kuldeep Yadav.
Adil Rashid has been a mainstay for England throughout their ODI and T20 World Cup wins and played vital roles in both tournaments.
But India ditched leg-spin in the last tournament and went with the experienced off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
This time around though, Kuldeep Yadav has been used throughout the Super 8 stage in the Caribbean, where tracks have aided spin.
The conditions in Providence, where the semifinal will be played, should also help the spinners, and it will be a far cry from the conditions we saw in batter-friendly Adelaide in the previous semi.
Two records will be on the line, as no team has successfully defended their T20 World Cup trophy and no team has won all their games en route to becoming champion in the T20 World Cup.
India seem to have learned from their mistakes and their approach from the last World Cup, and in many ways, adapted what has made England successful in white ball cricket in recent times.
They are a much more aggressive and powerful side from last time that can match or even better England in some facets of the game.
England must now, in many ways, face the monster they created.
